BY MARIAH JACKSON/ PHOTO COURTESY OF PABLO SANCHEZ

Imagine a prom where every student felt like a King or Queen. On Friday, April 17, the Best Buddies organization hosted the annual Best Buddies Prom at Glendora High School. Every local school that had the club attended, including Glendora, Diamond Bar, Covina, and San Dimas High Schools. As soon as I walked in the door, pearl necklaces were given out. There were guys and gals dressed like they came straight out of the late 50s and 60s. Turns out that the theme was The Great Gatsby.

The prom didn’t feel any different from a regular senior prom. The music was pumping, and there was never a time where nobody had a smile on their face. There wasn’t just dancing, there were different activities for attendees to participate in every corner of the gym. There was a photo booth that also had a table full of props such as hats and glasses that the buddies could wear while taking pictures together. There was also a more professional picture taking corner from Jostens. In another corner, there was a balloon man that made any kind of balloon that people asked for, from an animal to a car. The talented balloon man even made someone a multi-pyramid balloon hat. During the prom, club member Angel Cano said, “I like it, it’s really fun. It’s a lot of good people here. It’s just fun hanging out with my buddy.”

Everyone absolutely loved the DJ, as all of the buddies were dancing to every single song that he played. There were often dance competitions between the buddies from the different schools. One of the best buddies, Jose Gomez said, “I like the music the most.” For food, they gave a choice between white pasta (fettuccine) or red pasta (spaghetti), a bread roll, salad, and there was a separate circle table with various choices of desserts like cupcakes, cheesecake, and cookies. Everyone kept going back for everything, especially the desserts. Secretary Aashari Johnson said, “I loved it. I like being able to spend time with my buddy.”